Outdoor mini golf right here in SF? Yes, and with food trucks and a beer garden

With a mini golf course, food trucks, a beer garden and tents for escaping the foggy chill, Parklab Gardens and Stagecoach Greens is a new gathering spot in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood.

With a mini golf course, food trucks, a beer garden and tents for escaping the foggy chill, Parklab Gardens and Stagecoach Greens is a new gathering spot in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood.

Photo: Courtesy Parklab Gardens

Photo: Courtesy Parklab Gardens

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With a mini golf course, food trucks, a beer garden and tents for escaping the foggy chill, Parklab Gardens and Stagecoach Greens is a new gathering spot in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood.

With a mini golf course, food trucks, a beer garden and tents for escaping the foggy chill, Parklab Gardens and Stagecoach Greens is a new gathering spot in San Francisco's Mission Bay neighborhood.

Photo: Courtesy Parklab Gardens

Outdoor mini golf right here in SF? Yes, and with food trucks and a beer garden

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Carlos Muela was working at his popular Mission Bay food-truck hub Spark Social one night when he noticed the place was absolutely packed.

People were lined up for steaming bowls of ramen and wood-fired pizza, folks were gathered around the fire pits roasting marshmallows and every table in the beer garden was taken.

"I was thinking, 'There are too many people here,'" says Muela, a San Francisco native who grew up working in his family's Mission District restaurants Esperpento and Picaro. "There are so many families here and kids running around everywhere. We need more space for families."

A year and a half later, Muela has taken over another empty Mission Bay lot to create Parklab Gardens, opening Friday.

With a mini golf course, food trucks, a beer garden and Nordic tents for escaping the foggy chill, the 40,000-square-foot space at 1379 4th St. is bound to become another gathering spot for families and anyone looking for a good time.

Muela says the Stearns had plans to open a course in the Tahoe area, but he convinced them to move their project to San Francisco.

"They're literally the biggest fans of mini golf I've ever met in my life," Muela says. "They traveled the U.S. going to mini golf conventions and they've played courses all over with their three kids."

The Bayview-based custom fabrication shop One Hat One Hand built the designs for the course that all tie into a theme exploring the West's story of boom and bust. There's a hole with an Old West saloon and one with a gold mine. At another, you get to see who can hit the ball into the tallest building: Coit Tower, the Transamerica Building or the Salesforce Tower.

"They have over 150 local artists who worked on this course," says Muela.

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Al Pastor Papi, dishing up carnitas tacos, and Hookt Mini Doughnuts, frying up sweet and crunchy rings, will be permanently parked at Park Land Gardens. There's space for two additional trucks to bring in other food offerings, and 30 picnic tables are available in the beer garden pouring local crafts.

"You can only go to a bar or restaurant or the movies so much," he says. "This is social. You're outdoors. It's a fun entertaining night out."